Bengaluru: How much will you pay? Supreme Court asks 'polluter' Graphite India Ltd

Bengaluru: Recognising Graphite India Ltd (GIL) unit at Whitefield in Bengaluru as a polluter, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked GIL to report by October 29, the next date of hearing, as to how much the company will pay as compensation to the residents for polluting the area.

The residents, fighting against the polluting factory, have said that black soot emanating from the unit has become a threat to their health. The Supreme Court bench of Justices Madan B. Lokur and Deepak Gupta gave time to GIL advocate Shyam Divan to respond to the court on the amount it would pay as per ‘the polluter pays principle’.

Quoting a report from the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA), the Bench told Divan, “We had issued a notice to you. Your stand today is that you are not causing pollution. So we will hear you.” Mr Divan requested the court to hear the matter in the first week of December since there will be a complete shutdown of the plant by the end of November.

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